In the Kitchen: The Pluot

As I mentioned in my last post, we received a pretty spectacular looking and tasting stone fruit in our CSA. That fruit is the Pluot.

A hybrid of a plum and apricot, the Pluot was developed by Floyd Zaiger, named by some as the most prolific fruit breeder in the world.  Ziager has patented over 200 fruit varieties including the Peacotum (Peach, Apricot, Plum).

Here's an interesting read on Ziager's empire of fruit hybrids that I found fascinating.

Also, the Pluot is sometimes called a Dinosaur Egg. How quirky and cool is that?

via

So what is a Pluot like? I'm pretty sure we acquired the Candy Stripe variety which is yellow and red on the outside and pink on the inside. It is smooth like a plum but the apricot seems to cut some of the acidic taste that comes with a straight plum. They weren't as sweet as I expected but still delicious.

The season for Pluots coming to an end but I highly encourage you to seek this fruit out at your local farmers market or even in the grocery store!

For more nutritional information and description of this fruit, check out this breakdown from the CDC.

Community Supported Agriculture

After years (not an exaggeration) of saying we would, Ben and I have finally signed up for our very first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Although we had our first delivery last Friday we are pretty jazzed about the concept and the quality of the fresh produce we received.

Choosing a CSA was the first step and luckily there are some pretty great resources out there to help narrow down the options. Around our neck of the woods, Going Local, Indiana Living Green and the Local Growers Guild all had very helpful listings of what was available to us. If you are not an Indy area reader, no worries-  Local Harvest is a wonderful resource for those in the United States.

After much research, we went with Green B.E.A.N Delivery. We wanted something that was available year-round, which really limited our options, and the whole "comes to you" thing was super appealing.

The sign-up was a breeze and they even let you switch up what comes in your basket (a bit). Due to our hoards and hoards of tomatoes from the garden, I was able to nix them from our delivery for a couple ears of corn. An extra perk of Green B.E.A.N. is that they also offer lots of organic grocery store items other than produce. From Gunthrope Farm's Meats, Trader's Point Creamery products, and gluten free foods  to milk, eggs and salad dressing- they deliver it! I see this coming in handy especially during the most bitter parts of the winter when I am at work around the clock. Who likes having to stop at the grocery store after a 13 hour day? Not me.

I have already found myself thinking much more about what I am cooking not just health-wise but also quantity-wise. We signed up for bi-weekly deliveries so we need to make our produce last 2 weeks and make sure we eat what will quickly spoil first.

We signed up for the small produce bin and take a look at what all we got!

Apples, plums, pluots, oranges, potatoes, peppers, carrotts,
spring greens, corn, swiss chard and green beans!

Pluot

See that beautiful red and yellowish stone fruit right up there? That is a Pluot. Yes, that is it's real name and we'll be discussing it later this week so make sure to check back!

Until then, be sure to peruse the above links to find a CSA near you. I can't think of a better way to enjoy local produce and support those who make it possible!